Andrew Thomas Del Giorno - The Scarfo Regime

The Scarfo Regime

Early on in Scarfo's time as Boss a series of murders were perpetrated against a local Greek crime family led by Chelsais Bouras who was soon killed in a hail of bullets from the guns of Scarfo's hit men. He had been murdered for horning in on the methamphetamine trade.

Johnny Calabrese had his back to an alleyway near Cous' Little Italy as he talked to Chickie Ciancaglini. Whilst Tommy DelGiorno and Frank "Faffy" Iannarella prepared for the hit, they pulled guns; gloves and ski masks from a bag. But the masks were children size and didn't fit.

The two hit men ran over to Calabrese without their masks and pumped four bullets into him. Calabrese was killed for not falling in line with the regime of Nicky Scarfo and for operating a loan sharking operation out of several pawn shops in Atlantic City. Ciancaglini walked away casually when the shooting started and the shooters dumped their guns; then fled in a getaway car driven by Pasquale "Pat the Cat" Spirito. By then Calabrese was the eighth murder committed since 1980.

The next day DelGiorno went about his business as usual. Ciancaglini visited him to inform him of Scarfo's perspective of how DelGiorno and Iannarella handled the Calabrese murder.

"Jesus Christ, that was great. These guys are fuckin' great." -- Nicodemo Scarfo, Boss of the Philadelphia crime family (1981-1991)

Three weeks after DelGiorno left Calabrese dying in the gutter Frankie D'Alfonso was brutally beaten by captain Salvatore Testa and Gino Milano acting on orders from Scarfo. The beating was a message from the Boss for refusing to pay tribute to Scarfo.

In January 1982 Tommy DelGiorno, Faffy Iannarella and Pat the Cat Spirito were formally initiated into the Mafia. At a secret ceremony held in a home in Vineland, New Jersey. There DelGiorno vowed to "Live by the gun and die by the gun" and promised to "burn like the saints in hell" if he betrayed the mob's time honored code of silence.

Between 1982 and 1983 a dozen mobsters were murdered as Scarfo settled old grudges and moved towards solidifying his position and his criminal organization. Most of the decisions he made were contemplated in prison, he was serving time on a gun charge. It may have saved him from being killed during the infighting in the underworld with the Riccobene faction.

In late 1982 DelGiorno made $150,000 when he sold his restaurant to Ray Martorano and then he made J&M Bar on West Passyunk Avenue his headquarters. It was a small neighborhood tavern catering to a shot-and-beer crowd.

Frank "Chickie" Narducci's borrow time finally ran out. He was shot half a dozen times as he walked to his car by Salvatore Testa] not long after DelGiorno became a member of the Family. The murder was revenge for the murder of Phil Testa in 1981.

"I wish that motherfucker was alive so I could kill him again." -- Salvatore Testa on Frank Narducci

Soon Dominick "Mickey Diamond" DeVito and Rocco Marinucci (the man who personally blew up Phil Testa) were shot to death as well. Frank Monte was shot to death by hit men from the Riccobene faction after attempting to persuade Mario "Sonny" Riccobene to help set up his brother Harry Riccobene to be killed. Scarfo replaced Monte with his uncle Nicholas Piccolo. Monte's death triggered the Riccobene war.

Suspected drug dealer Robert Hornickle lay slain. Soon even Pat the Cat was dead, killed by Nicky Caramandi and Charlie Iannece for "talking treason" in regard to the current leadership of Nicky Scarfo. Riccobene associate Sammy Tamburrino was whacked in a candy store.

Bobby Riccobene was shot dead in front of his mother by Faffy Iannarella. The following week Enrico Riccobene shot himself to avoid being murdered by Scarfo's hit men. These deaths brought the Riccobene war to an end and Harry the Hunchback surrendered his territory and operations to the Scarfo faction.

At the time methamphetamine was the drug of choice in Philadelphia. DelGiorno and Nicky Caramandi began "taxing" drug dealers. In one such case they found meth dealers were importing gallons of P-2-P known as oil in from Europe and using the "oil" to produce methamphetamines. DelGiorno and Nick the Crow "taxed" the smugglers $2,000 per every gallon they imported.